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Boy Takes Victory Lap After Illness

As a member of the two-time champion Park District swim team in Hanover Park, 8-year-old Ryan Thomas last year swam the 25-yard freestyle event in 22 seconds.

At Ryan's first meet this year, he needed an extra minute and seven seconds to swim the same distance.

Although his speed was down considerably, Ryan was greeted with applause, whistles, cheers and tears as he touched the side of the pool long after his competition had climbed out.

It was, after all, a major feat considering Ryan became paralyzed eight months ago.

The youngster seemed dazed by the attention as teammates lifted him from the pool and helped him to his wheelchair.

Although Ryan was too tired even to smile, tears mingled with grins for the rest of the 94-member swim team and their parents who witnessed Ryan's first race since a devastating disease caused his paralysis.

"Everyone is glad that he's swimming again," said teammate Tim Macholl, 14, who sometimes swims underwater in front of Ryan to encourage him. "When we heard (of his illness) we said, `Wow, we can't believe it.' Everyone's there for him."

On Nov. 7, Ryan was struck with transverse myelitis, a rare inflammation in the lining of spinal cord that left Ryan a quadriplegic on a respirator.

Before that time, Ryan's teammates remember him as a rambunctious boy who earned a few blue ribbons in his two years as a Sailfish swim team member.

Ryan's world changed one morning when he awoke complaining that his head and neck hurt. Undaunted, he dressed and played at a friend's house. A short time later, Ryan's mother, Gayle Thomas, received a call that her son had collapsed and stopped breathing.

After spending four months in Lutheran General Hospital in Park Ridge and the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago, Ryan regained partial use of his paralyzed arms and legs.

Ryan's story, which first appeared in the Tribune last December, gained attention after his Christmas wish for a Mighty Morphin Power Ranger prompted Josh Moss, 4, from Wheeling, to give Ryan the action figure he had just received for Hanukkah.

Thomas used the Power Rangers, who transform from teenagers into fighting aliens in the action-adventure TV show, to motivate her son to "bring the Power Ranger inside himself" to fight the alien that keeps him from walking.

Through physical therapy, Ryan learned once again to "walk in the pool." Aided by a face mask and snorkel to help him breathe, he flutter kicks down the lane.

"Ryan shows that no matter what the talent level, challenges or background you bring, you're just as important and valuable as the record-setters," said Sailfish coach Grant Dahlke.

Every day Ryan asked his mother to take him to the pool, the one place he feels like one of the guys. The swimming also became key to his recovery because insurance no longer pays for his physical therapy.

"In the spirit of the Sailfish, everyone was there and was crying for him," Thomas said. "They've opened their arms and they've been there for him. This is not the end. It's really the beginning."

Contributions toward his medical expenses can be sent to: Ryan's Circle of Friends, First American Bank, 1300 Greenbrook Blvd., Hanover Park, Ill. 60103.